1) Promptly at 11:15:56 AM, Cabby Two drove up to my little hotel, son in tow in the passenger seat, and whisked me off to the ferry terminal. We had a pleasant chat on the way there!
1a) Adios, Marsalforn! I had a lovely time on Gozo in spite of one of your restaurants afflicting my insides.
My final view of Gozo.
2) And at the end of my ferry ride, Cabby Three collected me and drove me 45 minutes to Valletta, along a different route than I first experienced. We discussed the Maltese tradition of villages displaying Maltese flags and lightheartedly competing to see which village had the largest and best, government corruption, burgeoning construction, and other things.
3) I was prepared to be charmed by my next hotel, the Castille, and I was! Obviously old, the narrow lobby is paved with mellowed black-and-white marble and lined with gilt settees. The elevators might be described as French, e.g. narrow and a bit eccentric. My room on the top floor overlooks a large square, gardens, and the harbor through two windows on one side, and a closeup view of the Castille Palace from the other.
3a) The décor is perhaps your grandmother’s rarely-used guest room with a whiff of 1970s Spanish Mediterranean, but the peacock blue prints of the drapes and linens remind me happily of the blue shag carpet I had in my bedroom as a boy, and the drapes Mother made for that room. I am completely happy.
4) After my retirement in Marsalforn, it’s nice to be in the center of things again. The first order of business was a book; I am perishin’ for something to read! The closest bookstore to the hotel was called Agenda, and when I got there I wasn’t surprised, as I found many books on Maltese administrative law, politics, and diplomatic history. I was not going to spend 40 euros on a book about the Allies nearly selling Malta out to Italy to get Mussolini to bargain with Hitler (at least that’s what it sounded like).
Unsurprisingly, the Maltese cross shows up a lot.
4a) Eventually I found Ichigo Ichie: The Art of Making the Most of Every Moment, the Japanese Way, by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles. It’s a good time for this particular book to fall into my hands.
5) I was actually feeling better and felt I could eat a meal for dinner safely, so stopped at one of the many sidewalk cafés in the neighborhood for an Aperol spritz and a succulent dish of pasta with ham, mushrooms, and cream sauce. I promise I didn’t gorge it all down.
6) Strolling about after dinner, I found a pharmacy, where the pharmacist sold me something that should help, and then a supermercato where I bought a couple bottles of water. Bottled water is a lifestyle over here. I can’t imagine what Europe did before plastic was invented.
7) And that was my first half day in Valletta! What’s exciting is a) I’m here, b) I’m in one room for nine nights, the longest of this entire six weeks, and c) there is so much to see and do in the immediate vicinity. I’m delighted.
I’ve got on my happy face.